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Show ECicEcs lose finale in arctic-like weather Jit-1" r! 12 "" , , I i, - t i b. - m$ W J( o o o by Randy Hanskat The wind it was a-howlin'. The clouds they were a-snowin' a-snowin' (on ParkWest in the background). The temperature tempera-ture was a-droppin'. And everybody was a-freezin'! Sounds like the log from Commodore Perry's arctic journey, doesn't it? No, it was the setting for the final game of the season for Park City's women's soccer team, the Silver Kicks. Last Thursday at the P&rk City High School field the temperature hovered around 35 degrees at the game's 6:30 p.m. starting time. "'And the conditions did nothing to help the home team, as the Kicks, playing With only 10 players, went down to their 10 th defeat of the season, against eight ;wihs. Thursday's 3-1 loss to the University of Utah was the season finale for the '.Kicks. .','puring the pregame warm-.ups warm-.ups the scene was quite different the sun was shining, shin-ing, the skies were clear, and the temperature was fairly pleasant. Ah, but the difference differ-ence a half hour can make in the mountains. V Most of the women 'weren't prepared for the ' weather only a huskie would 'appreciate, but the game was 'aggressive just the same. 'The Kicks have always had a hard time against the University Univer-sity of Utah team. Coach ' Kathy Benner said that in the v.ni Kick eoalie Heidi Hunter lunees to her left to block yet another U of U shot. four seasons of its existence, the Kicks have only beaten the U once. That win came in the first game of this season. Due to other commitments, commit-ments, the Kicks again were one player short, and against a talented team that really hurt. Had it not been for incredible goaltending by Heidi Hunter of the Kicks the game might have turned into a blowout. Hunter, normally the backup back-up goaltender to Bemadette Ott (who couldn't attend Thursday's contest), made numerous sprawling saves, thwarting breakaways, and close-in shots by the U of U booters. Benner said the combination combina-tion of Hunter and a strong Park City defense made for one of the best defensive performances of the season. After the first half the score was only 1-1, even though most of the play had been down in the Park City defensive zone. The Kicks capitalized on basically its only opportunity of the first half, as forward Stephanie Palmer took a fine pass from Mona Cutter, surged to the left of the defender, and took a quick shot from the left angle. The U of U defender got a piece of the shot, but it still had enough force to squirt into the goal. That tied the game at 1-1 with about five minutes left in the first half. In the second half the weather worsened, as did the Kicks' chances. The U of U dominated the play, and took the utmost advantage of Park City's shortage of woman-power. woman-power. Even Hunter's acrobatics acro-batics couldn't keep two additional goals from busting into the Kick goal. Final score 3-1. "I was proud of everybody who made it out and braved the cold," said Benner, on crutches since suffering an injury in last week's Kick action. She said the team has been getting stronger every season, but has suffered somewhat this year by not being able to field a complete team for many of the recent games. Now the cry is "Wait 'til next year" for the Kicks, who will put a hold on soccer until the fall. |